Challenges influencing teachers' involvement in continuous professional development: A South African perspective

• Investigate the challenges that influencing teachers' participation in CPD.
• Inadequate input by school leadership in the teachers' CPD.
• Teachers' reluctance to participate in CPD activities.
• Detrimental factors influencing the effective implementation of CPD.
• Insufficient update of teachers' professional knowledge through CPD.

This article focuses on the challenges that impact on teachers' involvement in continuous professional development (CPD), as seen from a South African perspective. In this qualitative interpretive study, data from primary school teachers was collected by means of questionnaires and interviews. The four themes that emerged were: insufficient contribution of the school management to teachers' CPD; teachers' reluctance to participate in CPD activities; factors obstructing teachers to partake effectively in CPD events; and inadequate knowledge presented by CPD programmes. Productive teacher development occurs when teachers participate in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of CPD programmes offered.